US military cuts to have minimal impact in the Asia-Pacfic

MARK COLVIN: Plans are emerging to reshape the United States military after 13 years of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Pentagon has announced cuts which include scaling back the US Army to its lowest level since 1940.

The military is preparing for a post-war era and the Obama administration faces growing fiscal pressures, but what will it mean for the Asia/Pacific region?

Sarah Hawke reports.

SARAH HAWKE: The Pentagon had already been tasked with reducing its spend by nearly a trillion dollars over 10 years. The defence secretary Chuck Hagel has now outlined plans as to how that might happen.

The US army will reduce its troop numbers from 520,000 to less than 450,000 by 2017. Military bases will be closed. The air force will retire a fleet of spy planes and the navy will build 32 new LCS (littoral combat ship) combat ships, not 52.

CHUCK HAGEL: These recommendations will adapt and reshape our defence enterprise so that we can continue protecting this nation's security in an era of unprecedented uncertainty and change.

As we end our combat mission in Afghanistan, this will be the first budget to fully reflect the transition DOD (department of defence) is making for after 13 years of war.

SARAH HAWKE: The defence secretary admits the cuts come with some risks, especially if the US faced extended or multiple ground operations. But he says strategic objectives will still be met.

CHUCK HAGEL: To fulfil the strategy, DOD will continue to shift its operational focus and forces to the Asia/Pacific, sustain commitments to key allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe, maintain engagement in other regions, and continue to aggressively pursue global terrorist networks.

SARAH HAWKE: The former assistant secretary of defence, Lawrence Korb, says US security won't be threatened. He told Al Jazeera future administrations will rely more on special forces and drones rather than land armies tasked with regime change.

LAWRENCE KORB: The size of the army, yes, is going to be cut but it grew quite a bit during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the fact is that with the guard and reserve which were used extensively there, we can cut the active a little more. And basically with that, we still have the largest army in the world and we spend more on defence than the next 16 nations in the world combined.

SARAH HAWKE: Dr Mark Thomson is with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, specialising in defence economics. He says the cuts are in line with expectations.

MARK THOMSON: There was a time when the United States thought that they could simultaneously fight a ground war, say, on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East at the same time. It's now conceded that's impossible.

SARAH HAWKE: With that in mind, I guess one of the key questions from an Australian perspective is what this means for our region. How do you think it will be seen by, say, China and India?

MARK THOMSON: Well I think it's consistent with what we heard from president Obama by way of his rebalance to Asia or his pivot to Asia, where he said that there wouldn't be a cut in the amount of military resources in this part of the world.

This part of the world is predominantly a military theatre that relies upon naval platforms and air platforms, and given that those areas are not completely untouched by the current cuts but their priority has largely been preserved, I think it's fair to say that the US will be able to maintain the sort of force posture in our part of the world that they have in recent years.

SARAH HAWKE: Because that would be one of the key issues wouldn't it, this issue of posturing, particularly when you see China and India as well increase their own spending within the military perspective?

MARK THOMSON: Absolutely. China in particular has been increasing its defence spending at about 10 per cent an annum for the last 20 years, and as we've seen in the last few months or so, the tensions have been increasing in the western Pacific between China and Japan.

SARAH HAWKE: In essence, business as usual as far as the Asia/Pacific region is concerned?

MARK THOMSON: Look, it didn't have to be this way, but it looks like being a good outcome. The US's ability to maintain the sort of presence it has in Japan and in Guam and maintain the rotation of marines through Darwin and do the sort of things they've been doing over the last few years, they'll still be able to do that. So it's a good outcome for the Asia/Pacific.

SARAH HAWKE: The proposed cuts are still to go to Congress where there's likely to be some resistance, especially over proposed reductions in allowances for troops, including tax-free housing.

On the positive from the military's point of view, the numbers of elite special forces will be boosted by nearly 4,000.